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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. bound — tied together
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. bound — obliged
  6. capital — a city
  7. degree — temperature
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. deal — to handle
  11. land — ground
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. degree — an amount
  15. land — to come down
  16. degree — from a university
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. bound — certain
  20. capital — money
  21. perch — the fish
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. land — a country
  24. capital — a big letter

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com